Pre-loaded electrical connectors, assembly apparatus and method

ABSTRACT

A method for mechanically and electrically connecting conductors to multi-contact electrical connectors having rows of aligned terminals. Predetermined conductors can be electrically and mechanically connected to predetermined terminals in each of the separate connector housings positioned beside each other by locating the intermediate portion of each conductor over corresponding aligned terminals in the housings, moving the conductors into the slots of the terminals, and cutting out the section of conductor which extends between the terminals.

Unite States atent 1191 1111 31,9 Aldridge et a1. Oct. 7, 1975 [54]PRE-LOADED ELECTRHCAL 3,438,407 4/1969 Over 29/628 BL PP AT 5 3,617,98311/1971 Patton 339/98 ASSEM Y A AR U 3,708,779 1/1973 Enright et a1.339/99 R 3,745,512 7/1973 Johnson et al i 339/101 [75] Inventors: LionelDennis Aldridge, Seminole; 3,747,209 7/1973 Chow 29/629 Edward DennmanBunne" Palm Long et al. Harbor both f 1 3,769,701 11/1973 KlOth 1 29/203MW 3,800,390 4/1974 Johnston 29/203 J [73] Assignee: AMP Incorporated,Harrisburg, Pa. 3,803,695 4/1974 Tucci 29/203 H [22] Filed: July 1974Primary ExaminerC. W. Lanham [21] Appl. No.: 491,893 AssistantExaminerJames R. Duzan Attorney, Agent, or Firm-R.obert W. Pitts;Frederick Related US. Application Data W. Raring; y L. Seitchik [62]Division of Ser. No. 321,505, Jan. 8, 1973, Pat. No.

[57 ABSTRACT [52 us. c1 29/628; 29/203 H A method for mechanically andeiectrically Connect- 51 11111.01. 110m 43/00 ing conductorsmulti-contact electrical connectors 53 Field of Search 29 2 2 30 R, 630A having rows of aligned terminals. Predetermined con- 20 R, 203 D, 203H, 203 HC, 203 J 203 ductors can be electrically and mechanically con-MM, 20 MW, 03 p 203 S 339/47, nected to predetermined terminals in eachof the sepa- 43, 49 95, 97, 98, 99 rate connector housings positionedbeside each other by locating the intermediate portion of each conduc- 5References Cited tor over corresponding aligned terminals in the hous-UNITED STATES PATENTS ings, moving the conductors into the slots of thetermi- 3 012 219 12/1961 Levin et al 29/629 nals, and cutting out thesection of conductor which 3:046:636 7/1962 Albright......... m.IIIIIT29/335 extends between the termmafls' 3,363,309 1/1968 Logan et al29/628 5 Claims, 12 Drawing Figures Sheet 1 of 6 3,909,935

U.S. Patent Oct. 7,1975

US Patent Oct. 7,1975 Sheet 2 of6 3,909,935

3?? Mag/9T5 4 Qfi US. Patent Oct. 7,1975 Sheet 3 of6 3,909,935

0m. 7,1975 Sheet 4 of 6 3,909,935

US. Patent US. Patent Oct. 7,1975 Sheet5 0f6 3,909,935

US. Patent 00. 7,1975 Sheet 6 of6 3,909,935

FREE-LOADED ELECTRICAL CONNECTORS, ASSEIVIBLY APPARATUS AND METHODBACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This is a divisional application of pendingprior application Ser. No. 321,505 filed on Jan. 8, 1973 now U.S. Pat.No. 3,842,392.

This invention is a method relating to multi-contact electricalconnecting devices such as multi-contact electrical connectors and tothe use of apparatus for installing such connectors on conductors. Theinvention is herein disclosed as used in connection with a pair ofmateable hermaphroditic connectors but the method can be used with awide variety of multi'contact connecting devices.

It is common practice in the electrical connector art to producemulti-contact electrical connectors by first cutting electrical leadsfrom a coil of wire, stripping insulation from the ends of the leads,crimping electrical contact terminals onto the stripped ends, andfinally inserting the terminals into the cavities of an electricalconnector housing. Frequently, and particularly in the manufacture ofelectrical harnesses, the terminals cannot be inserted indiscriminatelyinto the cavities but must be inserted into specific predeterminedcavities in the housings since the leads or wires in a harness are notnecessarily of the same length and each lead must be connected to apredetermined lead in a mating harness when the harness is put to use.This method of installing connectors on conductors is time consuming andinefficient and has several comparative disadvantages which can resultin the production of defective harnesses. For example, during theinterval between crimping of the terminals onto the conductors andinsertion of the terminals into the cavities of the connector housing,the electrical leads must be repeatedly handled and transported from onework location to another. The terminals are subject to damage duringthis interval and if one or more terminals in a finished harness isfound to be damaged, it must be replaced or the harness discarded.Furthermore, the fact that predetermined terminals must be inserted intopredetermined cavities in the connector housing gives rise to thepossibility of a terminal being inserted into the wrong cavity and theproduction of a defective harness. The present invention is generallyaddressed to the solution of some of these manufacturing problems.

The method employed here insures that the apparatus inserts the properconductor into its appropriate terminal on each of the connectingdevices. The essential aspect of this method is that a single conductoris aligned with corresponding terminals in more than one connector.Apparatus for inserting conductors into multi-contact connectors aredisclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,758,935, 3,769,701, 3,800,390 and3,803,695. None of these patents involve the application of a singleconductor to corresponding terminals of mateable electrical connectors.Although not limited to utilization with mateable connectors, theinstant method is particularly useful in that respect.

It is accordingly an object of the invention to facilitate the use of apair of mateable preloaded electrical connectors having contactterminals therein to which predetermined conductors can be connected ina manner which will reduce the possibility of wiring errors as regardsthe electrical connections between the conductors and the terminals inthe connectors. A further object is to provide an improved method andapparatus for connecting conductors to the terminals in a pair ofpreloaded electrical connectors, whether or not the connectors aremateable.

These and other objects of the invention are achieved in a preferredembodiments thereof which are briefly described in the foregoingabstract, which are described in detail below and which are shown in theaccompanying drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a hermaphroditic electrical connectorassembly in accordance with the invention, the two connector parts beingcoupled to each other thereby to connect the wires extending into eachconnector part.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a hermaphroditic electrical connectorhousing in accordance with the invention showing a contact terminalexploded from one of the contact receiving cavities of the housing.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the housing of FIG. 2.

FIGS. 4 and 5 are views taken along the lines 44 and 55 of FIG. 3.

FIG. 6 is a view taken along the lines 6-6 of FIG. 3 but showing contactterminals and conductors installed in the contact receiving cavities ofthe housing.

FIG. 7 is a view taken along the lines 77 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 8 is a sectional view, on an enlarged scale, of the contactportions of two mateable contact terminals of the type shown in FIG.two, this view showing the contact portions separated from each other.

FIG. 9 is a view similar to FIG. 8 but showing the contact portions inengagement with each other.

FIG. 10 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view showing two connectorparts positioned side-by-side in a connector holding jig preparatory tothe formation of electrical connections between terminals in theconnector parts and a conductor.

FIG. 11 is a view similar to FIG. 10 but showing the positions of theparts at the conclusion of the connection operation.

FIG. 12 is a perspective view of one form of assembly apparatus forconnecting conductors to terminals in connectors in accordance with theinvention.

As shown in FIG. 1, a multi-contact electrical connector assembly 2 inaccordance with the invention comprises a pair of connector parts 4, 4'which can be coupled to, and decoupled from, each other to connect anddisconnect the conductors 6 and 6'. The connector part 4 and the contactterminals 14 which are con tained in this connector part are identicalto the con nector part 4' and the terminals 14'. Accordingly, adescription of the connector part 4 and a description of one of thecontact terminals 14 will suffice for both connector parts. The samereference numerals, differ entiated by prime marks will be used toidentify corresponding structural features of the two connector parts.

Connector part 4 comprises a housing 4 of insulating material having anupper or mating face 8 and an un derside or rearward face 10. Aplurality of contact receiving cavities 12 extend into the housing fromthe mating face 8, and are arranged in a row which extends between theends 32, 42 of the housing. Each cavity has a central transverselyextending rib 13 (FIGS. 3 and 5) which serves to support and locate acontact terminal mounted therein as will be explained below. Openings 16are provided in the side 18 which extends between the ends 32, 42 andcommunicate with the cavities 12 for the accomodation of the conductors6 as shown in FIG. 1. The side 20 which faces in the opposite directionfrom the side 18 is centrally offset or stepped as shown at 22 and threeupstanding teeth 24, 26, 28 project from the mating face 8 adjacent toside 20 of the housing. The tooth 28 is immediately adjacent to theportion 23 of the side 20 so that when the connector 4 is mated with theconnector 4 the teeth 28, 28 will be against the portions 21, 21' of thesides 20, 20' as indicated in FIG. 3. An elongated recess 30 extendsinwardly on the mating face 8 in alignment with the teeth 24, 26 whichare set back from the portion 21 of the side 20. When the two housingsare mated, the recess 30 will receive the teeth 24', 26' of the housing4 and the recess 30 will similarly receive the teeth 24, 26 of thehousing 4. It will be apparent from FIG. 2 that the teeth 24, 26, 28 arelocated on the mating face 8 such that wires or conductors extendingbetween the teeth will extend over cavities l2 and will be above and inalignment with the contact terminals contained in these cavities. Aswill be explained below, these teeth serve to locate the conductors whenthe connector is installed on a plurality of conductors.

A partial hood 34 extends upwardly, as viewed in FIG. 2, from therighthand end 32 of the housing 4 and partially surrounds the matingface 8. An opening 36 (see FIG. 3) extends through the housing adjacentto the end 32 from the mating face to the lower or rearward face 10,this opening being generally rectangular and having a central inwardlyextending boss 38 which defines a downwardly facing shoulder 40. Theupper side 39 of base 38 is inclined downwardly toward the rearward face40 in order to facilitate the flexing of the latch arm 50 of theconnector part 4 during coupling as will be described below.

An additional pair of spaced apart teeth 44, 46 extend from the matingface 8 adjacent to the end 42, these teeth having a thickness which issubstantially equal to, and slightly less than, the width of the opening36 so that the teeth 44, 46 of the connector part 4 can enter theopening 36' of the connector part 4' as shown in FIG. 7. The teeth 44,46 are inwardly spaced from the side 42 so that ledges 48 are providedadjacent to the teeth at their fixed ends. A flexible latch arm 50extends from the lefthand end of the mating face 8 between the teeth 44,46 and has a pointed upper end 52 and a downwardly facing shoulder 54adjacent to its upper end. An opening 56 extends through the housingfrom the rearward face thereof and has one side which merges with theoutwardly facing side 47 of the latch arm to permit access to the end ofthe latch arm for decoupling purposes when the connector part 4 iscoupled to the part 4'.

It will be apparent from the foregoing that the housing can be coupledto the housing 4 by locating the housings in face-to-face relationshipand in end-to-end inverted relationship (end 32 of housing 4 inalignment with end 42 of housing 4') and moving the housings towardseach other. During such movement, the latch arm 50 will move against theboss 38 and be flexed inwardly until the shoulder 54 is against theshoulder 40' of the housing 4 as shown in FIG. 7. The teeth 24, 26 willenter the recess 30, and the tooth 28 moves across the side portion 21of side as discussed above. The relationship of the housing 4' to thehousing 4 is, of course, the same as that of the housing 4 to thehousing 4'. It should be noted (FIG. 7) that when the housings arecoupled, the mating faces are against each other and portions of theledges 48 are against the side portions of the boss 38.

The two housings can be disengaged from each other by inserting thinblades through the openings 56, 56' and disengaging the ends of thelatch arms from the shoulders 40, 40'. Advantageously, projections 55,57 are provided at the ends of the housings to permit manual gripping ofthe two parts during separation.

Each of the electrical contact terminals 14 has a central conductorreceiving portion made up of a pair of parallel plate-like members 58,60 which are connected at their upper or free ends by spaced-apartstraps 62. Conductor receiving slots 64 extend into these plate sectionsfrom their upper ends so that a conductor can be moved downwardlybetween the plate sections and into the slots. The slots are of a widthsuch that they will penetrate the insulation of the conductor and deform the metallic core thereof so that the edges of the slots will bebrought into intimate electrical contact with the metallic cores of theconductors as shown in FIG. 7. Advantageously, the slot in the platesection 60 is relatively narrower than the slot in the plate section 58so that the slot in the former plate section will drastically deform themetallic core of a conductor 6 and establish good electrical contacttherewith while the slot in the plate section 58 will penetrate theinsulation of the wire but will not drastically deform the metalliccore. This arrangement provides good electrical contact in combinationwith a mechanical strain relief for the wire as explained in U.S. Pat.No. 3,617,983. A flange 66 extends normally outwardly from the platesection and arms 68 extend upwardly from the end of this flange. Thesearms are adapted to be crimped into embracing relationship with aconductor to provide a strain relief therefor.

An additional flange or plate section 70 extends from the plate section60 and has contact arms 72, 74 extending upwardly from its side edges.As shown best in FIG. 8, the contact arms 72 is relatively long and itsupper end 78 is above the upper ends of the plate sections 58, 60 of theterminal. The upper end of arm 72 is formed inwardly to provide aninclined surface and a boss 82. The shorter contact arm 74 extendsgenerally parallel to arm 72 and is formed inwardly to provide aspherical surface 76 on its inner side. When two contact terminals areinverted and moved towards each other, the contact arms engage eachother as shown in FIG. 9. The boss 76' slides over the surface 80 andflexes the arm 72 inwardly until boss 76 is moved past the contact boss82. As is apparent from FIG. 9, redundant contacts are achieved at fourseparate locations and the long and flexible arms 72, 72 are flexedinwardly by the short and stiff arms 74, 74' to provide the continuingcontact pressure required for a low resistance and stable electricalconnection.

A shearing plate 84 extends normally of the flange or plate section 70and parallel to the plate sections 58, 60. The upper edge 126 of thisshearing plate cooperates with an insertion apparatus to sever theconductor being inserted into the slot 64 as will be described below.

The contact terminals 14 are assembled to the housing 4 by merely movingthem into the cavities 12 as indicated in FIG. 2. Ears 67, which extendlaterally from flange 66, dig into the walls of the cavity as do thelaterally extending barbs 86 at each side of the shearing plate 84 sothat the contacts will be securely anchored in their respectivecavities. The ribs 13 of the cavities are received between the platesections 58, 60 ,at the lower ends thereof and support these platesections against buckling during installation of the connector onconductors. i v

Referring now to FIGS. -12, the conductors 6, 6' are connected to theterminals ,14, 14 by means of an apparatus 101 which has insertionpunches 110 (FIG. 11) for pushing the conductors into the conductorreceiving portions of aligned terminals in two connector parts. The twoconnector parts 4, 4' are positioned on a holding jig 88 having a base90 and a pair of spaced apart L-shaped locating clamps 92, 92. Theseplates have aligned recesses 94, 94 which are spaced apart by distancescorresponding to the spacing between adjacent cavities 12 in thejconnector parts. Theconnector parts 4 4' are located in side by siderelationship between the locating plates 92, 92" with Their sidesagainst each other with corresponding contact terminals in the two partinalignment with each other, and with the vertical legs 94 of the clampsagainst the sides 18, 18. The base 90 has rails 96 on its underside sothat it can be slid in grooves 98 on the sides of a fixed rail 100mounted on the base section 102 of the apparatus 101. The apparatus hasa generally U-shaped head frame 104 on which there is provided aforwardly extending arm 106. A ram 108 is mounted in suitable bushingsin arms 106 and is resiliently biased upwardly by suitable springs (notspecifically shown) against one end 130 of a bell crank 128. A pluralityof wire cutting and inserting punches 110 are mounted on the lower endof ram 108, one punch being provided for each pair of aligned terminals14, 14' in the connector parts. Each insertionand cutting punch 110 hasa central recess 112 and depending legs 114,114 on each side of thisrecess, these legs being substantially identical and mirror images ofeach other. The leg 114 has a central relatively shallow recess 116which is adapted to receive the spaced apart plates 158, 160 of theconductor receiving section of the terminal 14 and has on the righthandside of this recess forming or die surfaces 122 on its lower end forcurling the arms 68 of the terminal onto the conductor 6. On thelefthand side of recess 116, the leg 114 has an edge 124 whichcooperates with upper edge 126 of the previously identified shearingplate 84 of the terminal 114. The lower edge portions 118, 120 of theleg 1 14 immediately adjacent to the recess l 16 are adapted to engagethe conductor and push it downwardly into the conductor receiving slots64 of the terminal.

The insertion punches on the lower end of the ram are moved downwardlyby means of a linkage comprising the previously identified bell crank128 which is pivoted at 132 between ears 133 extending from the uppersurface of the arm 106. Bell crank 128 is pivotally connected byparallel links 134 to a lever arm 136 which in turn has its end pivotedat 138 between additional ears 139 which are integral with the headframe 104. It will be apparent that the ram 108 and therefore theinsertion punches 110 can be moved downwardly as viewed in FIG. 12 bymerely swinging the lever 136 downwardly from its position as shown.

When conductors are to be attached to terminals in the connector parts4, 4, the two connector parts are first positioned on the jig 88.Elongated conductors 6a are then located in each aligned pair ofopenings 93, 93 in the vertical legs 94, 94' of the locating plates 92,

. V 6 H 92. Conductors located in aligned pairs of slots 93, 93 willextend between the teeth 24, 26,24, 26 between the teeth 26, 28, 2'6,28', and between the teeth 28, 28

and partial hoods 34, 34.; This operation will locate one conductorabove each'aligned pair of terminals 14, 14 in the two connector parts.

The jig 88 is then slid along the rail until it is against a suitablestop (not specifically shown) and is located beneath the ram 108 withaninsertion punch 112 above each conductor 6a. The handle 136 is thenswung downwardly to drive thep'unches against the conductors and pushthe conductors downwardly into the aligned terminals in the connectors.During such downward movement of the punches 110, the conductors aresevered by the edges 126, 124 and 126, 124 of the punches 110 and theshear plates 84, 84'. This severing operation produces a short section6b of scrap conductor which extends between the aligned terminals andresults in the joining of the conductors 6, 6 to the terminals in thetwo connector parts. Thereaf ter, the ram is returned to its normalposition, the connector parts are removed from the jig 88 and they canbe coupled to each other as shown in FIG. 1.

The practice of the invention results in several advantages andeconomies in the manufacture of electrical harnesses and in theinstallation of connectors on conductors. A significant advantage isthat predetermined conductors are connected to specifically predetermined terminals in, the connector housings when the conductors are lacedthrough the jig and inserted and trimmed as illustrated in FIGS. 10 and11. It follows that the possibility of the commission of errors isvirtually eliminated with regard to the positions of the wires in theconnectors. In other words, after a given conductor 6 has been locatedin alignment with a predetermined aligned pair of terminals 14, 14 it isinevitable that the resulting conductors 6,. 6' will be connected toeach other when the two connector parts are mated with each other. Therecan be no errors of the type discussed above of misplacement ofconductors in either of the connector housings.

A further advantage of the invention is that there can be no damage tothe terminals since they are contained in and protected by the housing.Finally, the time required for location of the conductors 6a in the jigis substantially less than the time required inserting individualterminals into predetermined cavities of a housing in accordance withprior art practice. This is be cause the operation of locating a givenone of the conductors 6a above a given pair 14, 14' of terminalsactually determines the identity of the conductors which in thecompleted connector assembly will be connected to the same predeterminedpair of terminals. The location of a single conductor 6a thus results inthe determination of the locations of two separate conductors 6, 6 inthe housings.

Modifications of the invention within the scope of the appended claimswill be apparent to those skilled in the art. For example, theprinciples of the invention are not necessarily apparent all only tohermaphroditic connectors and terminals although hermaphroditicterminals are advantageous under many circumstances.

We claim:

1. A method of connecting predetermined conductors to predeterminedterminals in each of two mateable electrical connectors said connectorshaving a row of contact terminals therein, each terminal occupying adistinct position in said row in one connector and corresponding to theterminal in the same position in the other connector, each contactterminal having a contact portion and a conductor-receiving portionwhich is adapted to receive a conductor upon movement of said conductorlaterally of its axis towards said conductor receiving portion, saidmethod comprising the steps of:

positioning said connectors adjacent to each other with said row ofterminals in each connector extending substantially parallel to the rowof terminals in the other connector, and with the said contact portionof each row proximate to the contact portion of the said terminals inthe other row and the said wire-receiving portions remote from eachother, locating intermediate portions of said conductors across saidrows with the axes of each conductor in alignment with the saidconductor-receiving portions of two corresponding terminals in each ofsaid rows, said connectors being positioned so that each pair ofcorresponding terminals is in alignment,

moving said conductors laterally of their axes towards said terminalsand securing each conductor to the conductor-receiving portions of twoopposed corresponding terminals, and

cutting out the portion of each conductor which extends betwcen eachpair of corresponding terminals.

2. The method set forth in claim 1 in which said portion of eachconductor is cut out concomitantly with movement of each conductor intosaid conductorreceiving portions of two corresponding terminals.

3. A method of connecting predetermined conductors to terminals in eachof two multi-contact electrical connectors or the like, said connectorsbeing of the type comprising an insulating housing having said contactterminals therein, each of said terminals having a conductor receivingportion which is adapted to receive a conductor upon movement of saidconductor laterally of its axis and into said conductor receivingportion, said conductor receiving portions in each of said connectorsbeing arranged in side-by-side relationship in a row, said methodcomprising the steps of:

positioning said two connectors in side-by-side relationship with saidrows of conductor receiving portions extending parallel to each otherand with corresponding conductor-receiving portions in said two rows inalignment,

locating said conductors in parallel side-by-side relationship with theaxes of said conductors extending normally, and across, said rows andwith the spacing between adjacent conductors being equal to the spacingbetween adjacent conductor-receiving portions in said rows,

severing said conductors along at least one severing line which extendsbetween said rows, and moving said conductors laterally of their axesand into said conductor-receiving portions.

4. The method set forth in claims 3, said rows being spaced apart by apredetermined distance, said severing step being carried out by severingsaid conductors along two parallel severing lines, each of said severinglines being between said rows and being adjacent to one of said rows.

5. The method set forth in claim 3 in which said portion of eachconductor is severed concomitantly with movement of each conductor intosaid conductorreceiving portions of two corresponding terminals.

l I l

1. A method of connecting predetermined conductors to predeterminedterminals in each of two mateable electrical connectors said connectorshaving a row of contact terminals therein, each terminal occupying adistinct position in said row in one connector and corresponding to theterminal in the same position in the other connector, each contactterminal having a contact portion and a conductor-receiving portionwhich is adapted to receive a conductor upon movement of said conductorlaterally of its axis towards said conductor receiving portion, saidmethod comprising the steps of: positioning said connectors adjacent toeach other with said row of terminals in each connector extendingsubstantially parallel to the row of terminals in the other connector,and with the said contact portion of each row proximate to the contactportion of the said terminals in the other row and the saidwire-receiving portions remote from each other, locating intermediateportions of said conductors across said rows with the axes of eachconductor in alignment with the said conductor-receiving portions of twocorresponding terminals in each of said rows, said connectors beingpositioned so that each pair of corresponding terminals is in alignment,moving said conductors laterally of their axes towards said terminalsand securing each conduCtor to the conductorreceiving portions of twoopposed corresponding terminals, and cutting out the portion of eachconductor which extends between each pair of corresponding terminals. 2.The method set forth in claim 1 in which said portion of each conductoris cut out concomitantly with movement of each conductor into saidconductor-receiving portions of two corresponding terminals.
 3. A methodof connecting predetermined conductors to terminals in each of twomulti-contact electrical connectors or the like, said connectors beingof the type comprising an insulating housing having said contactterminals therein, each of said terminals having a conductor receivingportion which is adapted to receive a conductor upon movement of saidconductor laterally of its axis and into said conductor receivingportion, said conductor receiving portions in each of said connectorsbeing arranged in side-by-side relationship in a row, said methodcomprising the steps of: positioning said two connectors in side-by-siderelationship with said rows of conductor receiving portions extendingparallel to each other and with corresponding conductor-receivingportions in said two rows in alignment, locating said conductors inparallel side-by-side relationship with the axes of said conductorsextending normally, and across, said rows and with the spacing betweenadjacent conductors being equal to the spacing between adjacentconductor-receiving portions in said rows, severing said conductorsalong at least one severing line which extends between said rows, andmoving said conductors laterally of their axes and into saidconductor-receiving portions.
 4. The method set forth in claims 3, saidrows being spaced apart by a predetermined distance, said severing stepbeing carried out by severing said conductors along two parallelsevering lines, each of said severing lines being between said rows andbeing adjacent to one of said rows.
 5. The method set forth in claim 3in which said portion of each conductor is severed concomitantly withmovement of each conductor into said conductor-receiving portions of twocorresponding terminals.